Silver set to soar on Samsung’s solid-state battery breakthrough
According to retired investment professional Kevin Bambrough, Samsung has developed a new solid-state (SS) battery. The inclusion of silver as a key component, combined with the increasing demand for electric vehicles, means that demand for the grey metal will soon increase. “Samsung’s new solid-state battery technology, incorporating a silver-carbon (Ag-C) composite layer for the anode, exemplifies this advancement. Silver’s exceptional electrical conductivity and stability are leveraged to enhance battery performance and durability, achieving amazing benchmarks like a 600-mile range and a 20-year lifespan and 9-minute charge.” Estimates show that there could be as much as five grams of silver per cell in Samsung’s solid-state batteries, meaning “a typical EV battery pack containing around 200 cells for a 100 kWh capacity could require about 1 kg of silver per vehicle.”
“With global car production standing at about 80 million vehicles per year, if 20% of these vehicles (16 million EVs) were to adopt Samsung’s solid-state batteries, the annual demand for silver would be around 16,000 metric tons (16 million vehicles * 1 kg of silver per vehicle),” Bambrough said. “This would represent a significant portion of the current global silver production, which is approximately 25,000 metric tons annually, highlighting the substantial impact on the silver market.” According to a report written by Enrico Punsalang at Ride Apart, Samsung is already working with big automakers to incorporate its SS battery tech into EVs in development. The firm has signed an agreement with Toyota to begin mass production of SS batteries in 2027, with Lexus vehicles scheduled to be among the first to integrate the new technology.
Well, we do like Silver in our SUNARES-fund, positive momentum and additional industrial, clean-tech and technological demad combined with diminishing supply is a perfect set-up for a future Silver shortage. All one needs to do is look back at the silver chart of the 1970s to see how explosive the precious metal can move skyward when a true shortage develops.
Peter Mennel
Udo Sutterlüty